rosalind franklin and the double helix

Rosalind Franklin was born on July 25th, 1920 to a fairly affluent family in London, England. She attended St. Paul’s School for Girls, which was one of the very few schools that taught physics and chemistry to its female students (Biographies of women). Franklin received an uncommonly good education in the sciences, and at the age of 15 she decided that she wanted to become a scientist. Despite the fact that she excelled in school her father wanted her to become a social worker, believing that social work was a more respectable profession for a woman (Biographies of women). However, after much persuading he relented, and in 1938 Franklin began attending Newnham College (an annex of Cambridge). In 1941 she graduated but she was only awarded a degree titular (an honorary degree that is in name only) (Rosalind elsie franklin). At that time, Cambridge did not award females a degree despite the fact that they had completed the same requirements for graduation as their male counterparts. In 1945 Franklin graduated from Cambridge with her PhD in physical chemistry, and then traveled to France where she began to learn the x-ray diffraction techniques that she would come to be known for (Rosalind elsie franklin). In 1951 she returned to England and began to research in the lab of John Randall at King’s College. To her dismay, she discovered that she was considered inferior due to her gender and was treated as a lab assistant despite the fact that she was in charge of the ongoing DNA project (Rosalind elsie franklin). Sadly, it was very typical for female scientists to be treated this way by their peers even though they were equally as competent and well trained. In fact, Franklin was the only member of the four person team working on the DNA project that had her PhD in chemistry (James watson francis). Despite this, she was not allowed in the men’s only dining room at Cambridge, and her colleagues would further exclude her by going out to all male pubs after hours. For the most part, the discrimination that she faced did not hinder her work, and she was able to produce several beautiful x-ray crystallography photographs of DNA. These were some of the first visualizations of DNA to ever be created, and any man that had created them would have received high praise for her work. She, however, received no recognition and continued to be treated by her peers as inferior (James watson francis). To add insult to injury, in 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick announced that they had solved the puzzle of DNA’s structure. What they did not announce was that the only reason that they were able to solve the puzzle was because they had been shown the x-rays that Franklin had produced, without her permission. Maurice Wilkins, a colleague of Franklin’s with whom she did not get along, showed the x-rays to Watson in order to spite Franklin. The paper that Watson and Crick published was placed in Nature immediately, and Franklin’s work appeared as a small footnote of supporting evidence (Sheffield 2005). In 1956 Franklin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died in 1958, her contribution to science largely forgotten. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins all received the Nobel Prize for their work on DNA in 1962, none of whom even mentioned Franklin in their Nobel lectures. Watson later wrote an autobiography entitled Double Helix in which he classified Franklin as an unfortunate blend of intellect and nonconformity saying, “…By choice she did not emphasize her feminine qualities…there was never any lipstick to contrast with her straight black hair, while at the age of 31 her dresses showed all the imagination of English blue-stocking adolescents…clearly Rosy had to go or be put in her place.” His condescending use of the nickname Rosy (which Franklin never used) and his emphasis on her looks instead of her incredible intellect, characterize the treatment that Franklin experienced at the hands of her male peers (Sheffield 2005). One of Franklin’s longtime friends Anne Sayre described Franklin’s time at King’s College saying, “She was dealt with at King’s less as a scientist than as a woman, hence inferior.” Today, women still continue to face much discrimination in fields such as science and medicine; however there have been many strides made in ensuring that women are treated with equality in these fields. Rosalind Franklin’s story is now used as an inspiration for change, with many foundations supporting female scientists using it as the basis for their organization. For example, the Rosalind Franklin society is an organization that aims to help women excel in the sciences, and champions those who, like Rosalind, are being discriminated against due to their gender. There is even a medical school, Rosalind Franklin University Medical School, which is named after her (Sheffield 2005). Despite the fact that she received little recognition in her own time, her story greatly influenced the lives and careers of those female scientists that came after her. As Patricia Palmieri, author of Adamless Eden: The Community of Women Faculty at Wellesley once said, “The process by which women of ideas are marginalized, devalued, and forgotten is a complex one (Sheffield 2005).” In Rosalind Franklin’s case, this rings very true. While she did experience inexcusable discrimination from her male colleagues, she also made no attempt to reach out to them in friendship. She was described often as being very defensive and unfriendly, even by the other female faculty and staff. However, one must also consider the fact that she expected confrontation at every turn, and her experiences as a female scientists in a time when women did not become scientists most likely had a great deal to do with this. It is safe to assume though, that she “gave as good as she got” when interacting with her male peers. It is important not to think of Franklin as a weak woman, who was forced into submission by men, but rather a brave pioneer who was innovative, brilliant, and ultimately someone who was strong and who defied the odds against her.